1And there came together to him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2And had seen that some of his disciples took their bread with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. 3Now the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not take food without washing their hands with care, keeping the old rule which has been handed down to them: 4And when they come from the market-place, they take no food till their hands are washed; and a number of other orders there are, which have been handed down to them to keep--washings of cups and pots and brass vessels. 5And the Pharisees and the scribes put the question to him, Why do your disciples not keep the rules of the fathers, but take their bread with unwashed hands? 6And he said, Well did Isaiah say of you, you false ones: These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7But their worship is to no purpose, while they give as their teaching the rules of men. 8For, turning away from the law of God, you keep the rules of men. 9And he said to them, Truly you put on one side the law of God, so that you may keep the rules which have been handed down to you. 10For Moses said, Give honour to your father and mother, and, He who says evil of father or mother, let him have the punishment of death: 11But you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, That by which you might have had profit from me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God, 12You no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother; 13Making the word of God of no effect by your rule, which you have given: and a number of other such things you do. 14And turning to the people again, he said to them, Give ear to me all of you, and let my words be clear to you: 15There is nothing outside the man which, going into him, is able to make him unclean: but the things which come out of the man are those which make the man unclean. 16[] 17And when he had gone into the house away from all the people, his disciples put questions to him about the saying. 18And he said to them, Have even you so little wisdom? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside is not able to make him unclean, 19Because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach, and goes out with the waste? He said this, making all food clean. 20And he said, That which comes out of the man, that makes the man unclean. 21Because from inside, from the heart of men, come evil thoughts and unclean pleasures, 22The taking of goods and of life, broken faith between husband and wife, the desire of wealth, wrongdoing, deceit, sins of the flesh, an evil eye, angry words, pride, foolish acts: 23All these evil things come from inside, and make the man unclean. 24And he went away from there to the country of Tyre and Sidon. And he went into a house, desiring that no man might have knowledge of it: and he was not able to keep it secret. 25But a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having had news of him, came straight away and went down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Greek, a Syro-phoenician by birth: and she made a request to him that he would send the evil spirit out of her daughter. 27And he said to her, Let the children first have their food: for it is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. 28But she said to him in answer, Yes, Lord: even the dogs under the table take the bits dropped by the children. 29And he said to her, For this saying go your way; the evil spirit has gone out of your daughter. 30And she went away to her house, and saw the child on the bed, and the evil spirit gone out. 31And again he went out from Tyre, and came through Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the country of Decapolis. 32And they came to him with one who had no power of hearing and had trouble in talking; and they made a request to him to put his hands on him. 33And he took him on one side from the people privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he put water from his mouth on the man's tongue with his finger; 34And looking up to heaven, he took a deep breath, and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be open. 35And his ears became open, and the band of his tongue was made loose, and his words became clear. 36And he gave them orders not to give news of it to anyone; but the more he made this request, so much the more they made it public. 37And they were overcome with wonder, saying, He has done all things well: he even gives back the power of hearing and the power of talking to those who have been without them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
The traditions of the elders. (1-13) What defiles the man. (14-23) The woman of Canaan's daughter cured. (24-30) Christ restores a man to hearing and speech. (31-37) 1-13 One great design of Christ's coming was, to set aside the ceremonial law; and to make way for this, he rejects the ceremonies men added to the law of God's making. Those clean hands and that pure heart which Christ bestows on his disciples, and requires of them, are very different from the outward and superstitious forms of Pharisees of every age. Jesus reproves them for rejecting the commandment of God. It is clear that it is the duty of children, if their parents are poor, to relieve them as far as they are able; and if children deserve to die that curse their parents, much more those that starve them. But if a man conformed to the traditions of the Pharisees, they found a device to free him from the claim of this duty. 14-23 Our wicked thoughts and affections, words and actions, defile us, and these only. As a corrupt fountain sends forth corrupt streams, so does a corrupt heart send forth corrupt reasonings, corrupt appetites and passions, and all the wicked words and actions that come from them. A spiritual understanding of the law of God, and a sense of the evil of sin, will cause a man to seek for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to keep down the evil thoughts and affections that work within. 24-30 Christ never put any from him that fell at his feet, which a poor trembling soul may do. As she was a good woman, so a good mother. This sent her to Christ. His saying, Let the children first be filled, shows that there was mercy for the Gentiles, and not far off. She spoke, not as making light of the mercy, but magnifying the abundance of miraculous cures among the Jews, in comparison with which a single cure was but as a crumb. Thus, while proud Pharisees are left by the blessed Saviour, he manifests his compassion to poor humbled sinners, who look to him for children's bread. He still goes about to seek and save the lost. 31-37 Here is a cure of one that was deaf and dumb. Those who brought this poor man to Christ, besought him to observe the case, and put forth his power. Our Lord used more outward actions in the doing of this cure than usual. These were only signs of Christ's power to cure the man, to encourage his faith, and theirs that brought him. Though we find great variety in the cases and manner of relief of those who applied to Christ, yet all obtained the relief they sought. Thus it still is in the great concerns of our souls.